150 EBHR 17 Reviews 151 but at the same time the economic reform policy has led to environmental The present volume is a forceful statement in favour of caste as an analytical problems of land degradation, especially on the hills and parts of the uplands, category, and can be seen as a critique of overly deconst ructionist views by overgrazing. R.D. Schwartz's paper on 'The Reforms Revisited: Grain pro­ which regard caste as a mere colonial construction'. Instead, as Gellner argues curement in Tibet' outlines how Chinese procurement policy is implemented in his introduction, the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley are particularly in Tibet, describes its impact on rural livelihoods, and asks whether state suitable for a study of caste, as here certain biases of research in India procurement policy has had the effect of retarding or promoting the develop­ can be avoided. Above all, the institution of kingship is still very much ment of market sales of agricultural products. alive in Nepal, and this, among other things, allows for a reevaluation of a In the final article of the book, ' Economic Patterns of the Tibet Autonomous Hocartian perspective on caste. Also, the Newars, though agriculturalists in Regio n' Rang Ma provides an account of modern economic history tbat the majority, have a very urban culture (o n various scales) and so it is pos­ focuses on subsidy and nationality relations. He examines records and statis­ sible to countera ct the heavy focus on village studies which has characterized tics on the twentieth century economy and places them in the context of anthropological studies in other parrs of the subcont inent. Besides contribut­ relations between the Tibet Autonomous Region and the lowland Han regions ing to the discussion of these theorelical issues, the book is highly valuable of China. in providing a detailed compendium of Newar ethnography: as most of the major anthropologists who have worked on the Newar in recent times have This book is a unique new work. On the one hand it is a useful contribution collaborated to produce this volume, it represents the 'state of the art', with to the present interdisciplinary scientific debate on development and social all the tensions this is bound to imply. and environmental change. On the other, it is essential reading for those concerned with an objective assessment of Tibet's present and future develop­ The chapters of the book represent the major Newar castes or caste groups, ment. Despite the very profound information given by the various authors, partly described in a local context, partly in a more general manner. The first the book is also very thoroughly prepared, including an introduction to the contribution by Todd Lewis deals with the Uray of Asan Tol (Kathmandu), a contributors and their scientific and institutional backgrounds, lists of plates, caste of Buddhist merchants which consists of various sub-castes (Tuiadhar, maps and tables, notes on transcription as well as a comprehensive glossary Kamsakar, Rajkarnikar, etc.). Here caste, which operates as a marriage circle, at the end. Unfortunately the editor passed away on February 3«1 1998 is criss-crossed by various different guthi associations both above and below and was not able to witness the success of his work. Despite this tragic the level of caste. The common Buddhist identity is sti ll a marker of circumstance the book has been completed with the help of Mrs linchai exclusiveness today. As Lewis points out, this has its roots in the historical Clarke. context: in the Malla period, Hindu and Buddhist castes competed in factional politics vis-a.-vis royalty, with both sides getting their share. The following chapter deals with the "dominant" Hindu caste, the Shresthas. In fact, here Contested Hierarchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste the term 'caste' is the most problematic, because the Shrestha are perceived among the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal edited by as one caste by outsiders, but internally they are divided into several more David N. Gellner and Declan Quigley. Oxford: Clarendon or less endogamous status groups. The Shresthas are the major patrons in the Press, 1995. 364 pp., 19 plates, 12 figures , 30 tables, traditional system, i.e. they are at the core, representing the royal function. appendix, index. But, as Quigley argues, not all Shrestha lineages are equally powerful as patrons, and because of this various status groups have developed. The longest chapter is lshii's study of an ' intermediate settlement', i.e. a set­ Reviewed by Martin Gaenszle tlement which is neither a fringe settlement (almost exclusively inhabited by one caste) nor a large urban settlement, like Kathmandu or Lalitpur. In this The concept of caste has long dominated discussions of South Asian anthro­ very detailed description of Satungal, a multi-caste town of roughly 1,500 pology, but more recently its heuristic value has been increasingly questioned. inhabitants, it becomes clear that caste organization and kinship practices 152 EBHR 17 Reviews 153 diffcr considerably. de pending on the kind of settlement. In any case, the modernization, party politics, ethnic movements, etc. numerically largest caste, here as in most other places, 8re the Maharjans, the peasants, who 3fe generally regarded as the 'true' Newars. These 'urban In what respect then can one speak of 'contested hierarchies'? The title holds peasants' are dealt with in a chapter by Gellner and Pradhan. Looking at the out the promise that caste is here not seen as part of a self-perpemating Maharjans, it seems, one can observe Newar cuhure in its 'original' form, system bUl rather as something which is moulded and manipulated by con· but this suggestion. the authors warn us, has to be Ireated with caution. scious actors. And indeed, several of the contributions have something to say aboUl social status being a maller of contestation. In particular, Quigley Two further chapters, one by Toffm and one by Gell ner, focus on Newar stresses that the internal ranking of Shrestha sub-groups is rather fluid and priesthood. In his chapter on the social organization of the Rajopadhyaya that the boundaries of the group as a whole are permeable. Similarly, Lewis Brahmans Toffin points out the un ique status of the small caSle of Newar points out status rivalries between local Uray groups in Kathmandu, and Brahmans: on the one hand they 3re renowned throughout the country fo r Toffin stresses the differing status ascriptions of Rajopadhyaya Brahmans their st rict orthodo:o;y, but on the other their status has been in steady decline and Parbatiya Brahmans. Clearly, caste rankings are not always unambigu­ since the Shahs and Ranas favoured Parbatiya Brahmans. This puts them in ous and are often subject 10 dispute. But on the whole such contestation an awkward position, because in order to retain a Brahmanic identity they remains relatively marginal to most of the studies. The main emphasis is on have to distance themselves from the Newars. In the case of the Shakyas normative aspects, and agency is not made a special focus (some case studies and Vajracaryas described by Gellner the re is also a decline, if not in status would have been useful he re). It seems that dispute is often associated with then in the importance of their religious role. In particular, it is Theravada the dissolution of institutions. After ali, in the traditional system where the Buddhism and Hinduism which threaten the old system and thus the priestly king was at the centre of power there were obvious limits to contestation: vocation is less in demand. In consequence, Gell ne r argues, the Shakyas and hierarchy was often imposed on people from above. V:jr!lcarYls h~\'e reinforced their identity as Newar Buddhists and tend to become a "quasi-ethnic group". Whereas the contestation of hierarchy from the Newars' side is not as central an issue as one might e:o;pect (it is not ta ken up in the conclusion), The last twO descriptive chapters deal with various occupational castes at the the contestation of anthropological theories on Newar society is a recurrent lower end of the caste hierarchy. Toffin describes the Citrakars, the painters theme, and it is a virtue of the book that these are not covered up. In his and mask makers in the traditional system of rimal service, who belong to the conclusion Quigley points out these tensions. One controversial issue is the 'clean castes', and finally Gellner gives an account of the low, i.e. ' unclean', conceptualization and representation of the caste hierarchy. GeIlner proposes castes in lalitpur. Though not based on intensive and prolonged fieldwork to distinguish mainly si:o; ' blocs' of castes, which can be represented as verti· this chapter is a valuable source on Newar 'untouchability', especially since cally arranged layers. This, he argues, is the way Newar themselves depict this is still the least-known area of Newar society. It is interesting to see that it when speaking of 'higher' and 'Iower' castes. Qu igley. on the other hand, even the 'unclean' castes are rather heterogeneous, some tending to replicate regards this as misleading and prefers the 'mandala model': the king is at the high-caste model and others tending towards a subculture of their own. the centre and all the other castes are in a circle around him. The problem In spite of all the differences in the details of social organization which are with th is representation is that all the service castes appear to be similar described in these chapters it also emerges that there are clear continu ities. in status, and in fact, Quigley's point is that Brahman and Untouchable are Every chapter brings out the fundamental importance of the gllthi system, and not all that different. I have serious doubts about his view of the Brahmanic the strong ties to locality. Both of these features have often been stressed, but function. After all, the ethnography of Newar priestly castes clearly shows the unity in diversity comes OUl with particular clarity in this documentation their eminent position. In fac t, Quigley admits that there is a status difference of different castes in different sel1ings. Another strength of this ethnography which he describes in terms of distance from the cent re. But once such a is that all the authors also deal with recent changes and trends of develop­ distinction is introduced we are back to the vertical model. Of course, in this ment, such as the transformation of social groups and occupational pal1erns, model the crucial point is that the king is supreme, not the priest. But it has to be borne in mind that in a mandala the real centre is always a divinity: 154 EBHR 17 Reviews 155 it prOleclS the king and is accessed through priests. It is interesti ng 10 nOte in this respect that the old royal paleces of the Malla kings always contained the temple of their kul devata, Taleju, who was served by the Rajopadhyaya Brahmans (p. 189). Teach Yourself Nepali by Michael Hutt and Abhi Subedi. Another controversial issue is the question of whether ' Indianizalion', i.e. the London: Teach Yourself Books, Hodder and Stoughton transformation of a ' tribal substratum' through cominuous influence from the Educational, 1999. 308pp. Appendices: cardinal numbers; south, is crucial for an understanding of Newer society. While Tomn in par­ kinship terms; key to exercises; Nepali-English glossary ticu lar Stresses the non-Indic elements of many contemporary Newar customs, (1325 words); English-Nepal; glossary (398 words). both Gellncr and Quiglcy arc sceptical Ihat this is of much re levance. h is true that the transformation of Newe r culture has been a complex and long­ term historical process, and so one has to be very careful in making ge neral Reviewed by Marie-Christine Cabaud statements about 'tribal' and 'non-tribal' elements. But at the same time it emerges from the contributions 10 Ihis book that this uansformation is nol Michael HUll is Reader in Nepali and Himalayan Studies at the School of only a matter of history and that certain tensions between different cultu ral Oriental and African Studies, London University, and a specialist on Nepali orientations can still be recognized. Emulation of a high-caste Hindu model, language and literature. One of his recent publications (1997) is a reader for example, is still an imponant strategy (though not the only strategy) in for those who already know some Nepali. which provides extracts in both the construction of a cultural self-identity (e,g. in terms of marriage practices, prose and ve rse, with numerous grammatical notes and a sizeable word index. use of priestly functionaries, religious orientations, etc.). And so one has to Abhi Subedi is a professor of English, a historian of Nepali literature, and ask: What kind of choices are taken by individual actors, and what are the a writer. Among his many articles and works in NepaJi and English, one reasons fo r such decisions? I think there is still considerable scope for fu ture should memion in particular his history of NepaJi literature, which remai ns a research on such issues, especially if more fieldwork is done among the fundame ntal reference book despite being twenty years old. Maharjans outside the big cities. As to content, the two authors combine their respecti ve expertise and aim All in all, the volume is a very impressive documentation of Newar culture, to guide the beginner through the language of everyday verbal exchanges. on a high level of ethnograp hi c and theoretical standards, and excellently They adopt the classic method: 34 short texts (only two of which arc not presented (the book is well illustrated and has a carefully prepared index, for dialogues) progressively introduce grammatical difficulties. The texts cover example). Moreover, it opens up a space fo r dealing with mallers of agency, many aspects of life in Kal hmandu, as well as providing a little on vil­ contestation, and cultural change without falling into the traps of an impres­ lages (identit y, times of day, means of transpon, shopping, nu mbers, the sionisti c 'psychoethnography' (S. Parish). It is an important contribution to calendar, the doclor, airport, marriage, religion... ). At the same time, most the anthropology of South Asian culture and society, and so one can only useful gramma tical forms are also covered, from in nexions of the verb to hope that it will also receive due recognition and debate among scholars with subordinate clauses. At the beginning of each lext the context is explained in comparative interests. English; then one finds the new vocabulary in a box, fo llowed by the transla­ tion of the dialogue, and grammatical ex planations. This is in turn followed by exercises. The authors deliberately avoid linguistic jargon (explanations "are imended to be as clear and jargon-free as possible"). A few illustrations provide a little Nepalese atmosphere. There is an accompanying cassette tape of the dialogues. The book is well in keeping with the Teach Yourself series. I1 permits solitary study, wi thout the help of a teacher. No new difficulty is introduced